Pin retaining means for bowling alleys



pt- 15, 1953 H. s. JOHNS ETAL 2,652,253

PIN RETAINING MEANS FOR BOWLING ALLEYS Filed March 18, 1950 A INVENTORS Pr 5'- Jaw/vs BY Mu MM 1% .fa/ws for servicing of the apparatus should any repair thereof be necessary after the apparatus has been in operation for some time.

It will be realized that in operation, whenever the coil H is energized, it should supply sufficient magnetic force that it will fixedly and positively retain the pins 6 in the positions that they are then in on the floor 2, if such pins are standing on the floor 2. When an pins are knocked over onto their sides, then the magnetizing energy provided by the coil II will not be sufficient to completely retain the pins 6 in a given position since they can readily be picked up or rolled off of the floor 2 depending upon any external forces that are applied to such fallen pins.

One control for the energization circuit is shown in our copending application Ser. No. 569,962 (U. S. Patent No. 2,591,265).

The present application is a continuation-in part of our copending application Ser. No.- 569,962 (U. S. Patent No. 2,591,265) which discloses certain sweep mechanism for removing, automatically, fallen pins from abowling alley without interfering with the standing pins on the alley that are retained in a given position by magnetizing means such as those disclosed herein. Such sweep means are drawings and include a frame H1 and a control arm H3. Sweep fingers l3l are mounted on the frame H1. These sweep means are adapted'to be moved along the surface of the floor 2 to move any fallen pins into the pit 3. The sweep means may be actuated in any desired manner, normally while the pin setting means 9 are in an elevated position, all as more specifically described in our U. S. Patent No. 2,591,265. the apparatus of the invention may be suitable in many instances where fallen pins are manually removed from the alley. Hence the apparatus would prevent inadvertent movement of any of the standing pins by the pin boy.

In some instances, it may be desirable to have the plate i9 positioned flush with the surfaces of the fioor 2 and actually forming a part thereof although usually it is preferred to have such plate below the surfaces of the floor and covered with flooring since the magnetizable energy produced in the plate ID will readily be transmitted through the floor 2, which usually is made from wood, and still permit the desired retention action on standing pins on the floor.

From the foregoing, it will be realized that the apparatus of the invention provides a sturdy,

illustrated in the efiective but positive acting apparatus for retaining standing pins in a desired position on a bowling alley so that the objects of the invention are achieved.

While one complete embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that modification of this particular embodiment of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a bowling alley having continuous fixed wooden floor means extending over the bowling and pin receiving areas thereof, said bowling alley being adapted for use with bowling pins having metallic means in the bases thereof, a magnetizable plate positioned below said wooden floor means and extending the width of the alley over the length thereof on which bowling pins are normall positioned, and means for magnetizing said plate at desired times whereby standing bowling pins can be retained in exact locations when said plate is energized.

2. A bowling alley having continuous fixed wooden fioor means extending over the bowling and pin receiving areas thereof, said bowling alley being adapted for use with bowling pins having metallic means in the bases thereof and having automatic pin sweeping means provided therefor, a magnetizable metal plate positioned immediately below said wooden floor means and extending the width of the alley over the length thereof on which bowling pins are normally positioned, and means for magnetizing said plate at desired times whereby standing bowling pins can be retained in exact locations when said plate is energized and fallen pins are removed by said pin sweeping means.

3. In combination with a bowling alley having continuous fixed wooden floor means extending over the bowling and pin receiving areas thereof, said bowling alley being adapted for use with bowling pins having metallic means in the bases thereof, means for sweeping fallen pins from the bowling alley, a magnetizable plate positioned below said wooden floor means and extending the width of the alley over the length thereof on which bowling pins are normally positioned, and means for magnetizing said plate at desired times whereby standing bowling pins can be retained in exact locations when said plate is energized and said pin sweeping means are actuated.

HENRY S. JOHNS.

WILLIAM H. JOHNS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,181,649 Downey May 2, 1916 1,896,383 White Feb. "I, 1933 2,285,244 Williams June 2, 1942 2,445,688 Parra et al. July 20, 1948 

